Rihanna Collaborator Debuts Own Clothing Line on "Casting Couch" Set

Now that he's not showing with Rihanna, Adam Selman suggests critics are less likely to call his clothes "skanky" or "nasty."

By
Amy Odell

Sep 07, 2013

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"I wanted it to be a casting couch," is how Adam Selman described the presentation of his first clothing line in New York this week. Selman, who is best known for co-designing Rihanna's River Island clothing line, wasn't talking about a pornographic scene, though. He dreamed up the clothes after studying the famously sexy covers Francesco Scavullo shot for Cosmopolitan in the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

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Photo: Cosmopolitan

Then, he decided to put the clothes — bra tops, slip dresses, bathing suits — on models lounging on a set that consisted of a water cooler and potted plants. "It's totally sensible," Selman joked. "But a photo shoot really is like that - lots of waiting around, lots of hair and makeup, people going in and touching stuff up."

Selman certainly knows his way around a photo shoot after working with Rihanna for so long. Though, "I actually didn't read a lot of the reviews," Selmam said of the River Island debut, which might be good given that the Daily Beast called it "A horror show." "I also think something with Rihanna's always going to create more controversy than if I show my own collection because they [say] 'It's skanky, it's nasty.' You're always going to get that with celebrities. It's hard."

"People love to hate," Selman continued. But, Selman said, Rihanna only makes him better at what he does. "She's constantly pushing the boundaries and going onto the next thing, which helps me as a designer say, 'Okay, I have to keep on top of it.'" Selman had trouble naming his favorite memory of hanging out with Rihanna but finally settled on the time he went to Barbados with her for Carnival. "We were hanging out in, like, a big Scarface mansion with a pool," he recalled. "She likes to have fun." Insert big wink face here.